Chased By The Light: Scion Series Book One

by L. P. Dillon

  "Are you ready?" she asked, a huge smile lighting up her face.

  "Yeah, I'm excited to see what stores you guys have here," Payton replied.

  "You'll be surprised. We have some really nice clothing stores. And how about you, Aubrey?" She opened the door for us to leave.

  "I'm just excited to eat," I said honestly.

  Payton laughed nervously, and then said, "Don't mind her, she's always hungry."

  "It's okay, so am I. It must be a track thing," she replied, sending me a huge smile that showed off her dimples, and immediately I thought of Chase.

  It was going to take some time to separate her face and his because they looked so much alike, but she was a nice girl, so I was going to make every effort to stop comparing her to Chase. I didn't need the thought of him ruining the friendship we might build one day.

  "You run track?" I asked her with excitement.

  "Yeah. I saw that you put your name down to join. You won't have a problem getting in, but we have some fierce runners, so you might need to come training with me. That way you'll be able to keep up," she said helpfully.

  She walked us around the Sorority house and towards the garages, which were set up similarly to the ones at the Frat house.

  "I'll be able to keep up just fine. I was the fastest girl in high school," I said, puffing out my chest a bit.

  "Yes, but this is college, babes. And we have the fastest women's team in the state. Come running with me on Tuesday, and I'll put you through your paces."

  She pressed a button on her keys and as the door went up, it revealed a gorgeous emerald green Land Rover Discovery Sport. It had huge wheels and tinted windows. I was surprised that it was the same color as Chase's Lotus, but maybe they had similar tastes. Or maybe their parents picked them out.

  "Nice car," I said as she opened the driver’s side door.

  "Thanks, we got them for our twenty-first this year. Chase picked that sports car of his, which cost an arm and a leg. I knew that I'd need a big car for Sorority stuff, so I picked this and then a little Porsche, and they both came to around the same price that his one car did," she explained while climbing into the driver's seat.

  Leaning over, she opened the passenger door and ushered me inside. I turned to Payton and she nodded at me. I guess she was just grateful that Arabella was including her at all. She put on the music and we talked and laughed all the way to the mall. It was nice to have a girlie day. So much of my life had been dominated by guys that I missed the girls’ day out.

  When we arrived at the mall, Arabella pulled into a parking spot. As I climbed out of the car, my jaw fell open. The mall was huge, even bigger than the one we had back home. Payton’s excited gasp told me she was more than excited.

  "So where to first? Shoes? Clothes? Hair and nails?" she all but hummed with anticipation.

  Arabella and I looked at each other with grins on our faces as we answered in unison, "Food!"

  Payton rolled her eyes and growled. She must be spending way too much time with these people. Hopefully, I didn’t start growling like the rest of them.

  "Fine, food it is. But somewhere nice that sells a decent salad. We are not all blessed with fantastic genes like you two," she said with a sigh.

  Arabella and I both laughed, then we linked arms with Payton. I think she liked being in the middle, and I guessed it was because it made her feel special for a little while.

  As we entered the mall, Arabella guided us to a little pizzeria. Payton gave her a confused look.

  "What? Trust me, they have the best salad in town. I promise."

  Payton smiled weakly, giving away the fact that she didn’t believe her even a little bit. Chuckling, I followed the girls into the restaurant. We ordered our food, and Arabella and I pigged out on pizza while Payton tucked into a blue cheese salad. I didn't know how she could eat that crap. I'd be starving to death. But, to be honest, I needed to get back to training. I'd become lazy the last few weeks and hadn't gone for a run for ages. I was glad that Arabella wanted to run on Tuesday because if I drank anything tonight, there was no way in hell I'd be able to keep up with her.

  After lunch, we went shopping for clothes. Arabella told us the theme was black and white, so we needed a black or white dress. I picked out a nice white one that hugged me at the waist and flowed to the floor, but Arabella said I should go for something a little sexier. She ran off, only to return to the dressing room with a little black dress. I raised an eyebrow at her, not quite sure I'd even fit into it. It didn't hold any shape while hanging up, and I guess that was the point. I slipped it on over my underwear and I had to admit it looked remarkable. It had short, off-the-shoulder sleeves and a square neckline that dipped way too low to wear a bra with. Clinging to my waist, it accentuated my hips and legs while ending mid-thigh. There was also no back. The dress kind of felt like another skin instead of actual clothes.

  "Hey guys, I'm not sure I can wear this dress. It's a little..." I said as I pulled the curtain to one side and stepped out into the main changing room.

  Both Payton and Arabella gasped.

  "Yes, you can. That dress is made for your body. You look hot as hell!" Payton squealed.

  Arabella nodded. "I'm buying you that dress, it's perfect!"

  I laughed and even though I did feel a little self-conscious in it, I had to admit it looked good on me and showed off every one of my curves.

  “Okay, but if I get drunk and a boob flops out, then it ends up all over social media, you only have yourselves to blame," I said sarcastically, poking my tongue out at them.

  They both chuckled as I disappeared into the dressing room to get changed. The girls picked out their dresses and we moved on to shoes. Arabella insisted on buying me a pair of Christian Louboutin, and even though I told her they were too expensive, she wouldn't listen. They were amazing though, and I fell in love with them. They were red in the back but faded to black in the front. Since she told me she would take them if I didn’t want them after the party, I agreed in the end. Except she changed the deal and said we’d share them.

  “Maybe I can have them every other weekend,” I told her.

  She cackled. “We can definitely arrange that.”

  Truthfully, I was worried about breaking my neck in those things. The heel was so high…and what would happen if I lost one. The left one like I always seemed to when I drank too much…

  After clothes shopping, we headed over to the salon and got our hair styled and nails painted. I decided to go red to match my new shoes, Payton chose pink, and Arabella chose the color of the Sorority, a peach-pink color.

  After all that was finished, we hopped in Arabella's car and headed back to the house. We only had a few hours left, so when we got back, we all rushed upstairs to get ready. Payton and I sat in our room listening to some music while applying our makeup. Then there was a knock at the door.

  "Come in!" I shouted above the music.

  "My hands are full. Can you open the door?" Arabella said through the door.

  Payton hurried over and opened the door for her, letting her in. Her clothes and makeup bag were in one hand and tucked in her arms and in her other hand she carried three glasses and a bottle of champagne. Placing the glasses and bottle on a table, she threw her clothes on my bed. When she started pouring champagne into glasses, I cleared my throat.

  "Do you mind if I have a beer?" I asked her.

  She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me, then smiled and looked towards the door. I wondered what she was looking at, and all of a sudden, a girl arrived with a six-pack of beer.

  I scrunched my eyes at her. "How did you know?"

  "I saw you at the party the other night. A beer and a chaser, right?" She handed Payton a glass of champagne.

  I nodded, watching as the girl put the beers on the table before leaving. We drank and danced, having way too much fun while we got ready, and once we were, we took a selfie of the three of us. Since it was almost time for the party then, I stepped tow
ards the door.

  "Where are you going?" Arabella asked.

  I spun around and shot her a confused look.

  "You two have to wait here until everyone arrives. We’ll gather the guests in the entrance hall, then we’ll call you to come down the stairs," she explained. After she smiled, she kissed my cheek and left the room.

  "I wonder why they do that?" I asked Payton as I drank the rest of my beer.

  "I'm not sure. But it feels like it did when we had to walk down the stairs at my house for prom. Do you remember?" She chuckled.

  "How could I forget? You were my date, and I tripped on the hem of my dress, fell down the stairs, and ended up in the emergency room." I rolled my eyes. “Go figure.”

  "Yeah, I suppose that's a hard night to forget. At least the doctor was hot!" She giggled again.

  "Yeah, that was the highlight of my night, watching you make googly eyes at him while he was trying to glue up my head," I whined.

  "Sorry, I couldn't resist. He was so yummy..."

  "Who's yummy?" Connor asked from the bedroom door.

  "Oh my God.” Payton placed a hand on her heart, startled at his appearance. “You. You are! You look so handsome," she squealed as she ran over to Connor and jumped into his arms.

  I turned my head away as they kissed. I wasn't usually bothered by PDA, but right now, I didn't feel like watching them suck face.

  "Wow, you look incredible," Chase said quietly behind me.

  I sighed and turned to look at him. "What do you want, Chase?" I asked him in a monotone voice.

  "It's a tradition to have the President, Vice President and other officers of the Fraternity be the dates of the new Sorority sisters at their welcome party," he replied with a slight smile, luckily not big enough to deepen those dimples of his.

  "And I was lucky enough to get you, huh?" I said, sarcasm dripping from my words.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Look, I can get someone else for you if you want?"

  I stood up and pulled down my dress. His eyes moved from the top of my head to my toes almost in slow motion, but he brought them up to my eyes and beamed at me. When I raised an eyebrow at him, calling him out on his perusal, his cheeks flushed red. Clearing his throat, he rubbed his neck again.

  I couldn't deny the guy looked incredible in a tux, and he smelled even better than he looked, but somehow, even with everything working against me, I managed to control myself. At least mostly.

  "No, who am I to mess with tradition. Just don't expect me to talk to you much/ I'm intending to have some fun tonight and I don't want you cramping my style," I said as I walked right past him towards the door.

  I stopped at the doorway when I didn’t hear him following me, turning around to see he’d turned his back to me and was staring at the floor.

  "Are you coming, or what?" I called out to him.

  "Yeah, of course," he replied as he turned around, forcing a huge smile. His jaw clenching gave away the fact it was a forced smile. Sure, he might not be keen on the idea that I might have fun with other guys, but that wasn’t my problem. It was his.

  As soon as he made his way to my side, he held his arm out for me. I slipped my hand through it and held on as he walked me towards the winding staircase that would lead us to the entrance hall. Payton and Connor went down first, and all I heard were a ton of cheers and loud applause.

  We stood at the top of the stairs waiting for them to get to the bottom. Then it was our turn. The whole house erupted in cheers, whistles, howls, and applause. It felt nice to have that much attention, and I wasn't going to lie, it was nice to have a hot guy on my arm again. When we reached the bottom, people surrounded us, welcoming me to the Sorority and the college. Then the music boomed.

  "Please welcome Payton and Aubrey to our Sorority to our family. Let’s show them exactly how Zeta Beta Chi gets down. Let's get wild!" Arabella yelled.

  Everyone howled into the air, and for the first time, I didn't even think about it when I lifted my head and howled into the air with my new sisters and brothers.

  I partied hard, taking shots and drinking beers like they were water, following them up with chasers of whiskey. A lot of the girls gave me dirty looks, but Arabella joined me, and we had a blast dancing, laughing, and drinking. Payton spent most of her time with Connor, slow dancing, sexy dancing, sucking face, and then finally they began to walk up the stairs.

  Arabella watched them the whole way, and I could tell she was upset. I poured some shots in front of her. "You okay?"

  "Huh?" she asked with confusion.

  I picked up a shot and pointed towards Payton and Connor with my finger, then necked the shot and slammed it down on the side. Arabella looked at them, somehow still grabbing the shot without knocking it over.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. She's welcome to him," she said through gritted teeth and then downed the shot, slamming the glass right beside mine.

  I knew she wasn't fine; I’d overheard a conversation between her and Connor earlier. She yelled at him, something about him being second in command, and that they were supposed to be together. He replied that it had been her choice to break up, and that she had no right now to be pissed off because he’d moved on and fallen in love with Payton. Knowing this, I didn't want to push her to tell me. The last thing I needed was to be in the middle, listening to both of their sides. I liked Arabella, but I would always be on Payton's side no matter what.

  We drank some more, and I decided it was time to dance. Arabella joined me, but before long we had a group of guys surrounding us. I’d had way too much to drink, so I was more than happy to grind my ass against the guy who danced behind me. His hands were all over my waist, hips, and ass, and after a while, he spun me around to face him.

  I wasn't looking for it to lead to anything, but when I turned around, the guy was super-hot. He had light blond hair that he wore short, beautiful bright green eyes, and an adorably handsome face. To be honest, he was the best-looking guy at the party, and while I stood there with my hands pressed onto his muscled chest, I couldn't help but get excited.

  The music suddenly changed to a slow song, and with a husky, southern voice that made my lady parts tingle he asked, "You wanna dance?"

  I smiled up at him, giving him my sexiest voice as I said, "You didn’t bother to ask when you were grinding your junk into my ass."

  His eyes shot open wide, and a huge grin grew across his face. He then grabbed my ass with both hands and pulled me hard against his body. I moaned a little as my breasts slammed into his rock-hard chest. Sliding my hands up and over his shoulders, I linked my fingers behind his neck. He let a little growl escape, and it was the first time I'd found it sexy.

  I didn't know if it was the drink or the huskiness of his voice that made it sound so primal and dominant. We danced in time to the music and it was just what I needed. I felt so safe in his embrace. Bending down, he spoke softly into my ear, his breath so gentle against my skin it sent a shiver down my back. "So, what's your name, Darlin'?" he asked in his southern accent, and he sounded delicious.

  "I'm, Aubrey," I replied simply.

  "Well, that's a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I'm Jesse," he said seductively.

  "I don't remember seeing you at the last party. Are you new here?" I asked, trying to make conversation and get my mind away from the dirty thoughts running through it.

  "I don't go to this college. I go to Orton," he replied as he swept a piece of my hair behind my ear.

  His fingers lightly brushed my cheek and I struggled to keep another moan contained. Orton was a prestigious college and was extremely difficult to get into. You needed a perfect GPA and to pretty much be a genius. I gazed into his eyes again and they just sucked me in. Without thinking, I leaned in and placed my lips onto his. He instantly responded and slipped his hand behind my head, deepening the kiss. So, lost I was in that kiss that I hadn’t even noticed the music stopped.

  Someone yelled, and my gaze moved through the room, even tho
ugh I knew instantly who it was. Chase. He charged towards us, which made me think of the time he did the same thing, but it was fuzzy. A huge guy went flying through the air in the memory, but I had no clue who it was. It couldn’t be my imagination, could it?

  "Jesse, get your filthy hands off her!"

  Jesse laughed deeply, while I shouted out, "Chase, not again! Seriously?"

  He froze on the spot and looked at me, his brows angled in confusing. While he was distracted and unmoving, I grabbed Jesse’s hand, yanking on it for him to follow me. "Quick, this way!"

  Jesse came along as I ran towards the garden, and when I turned to look where Chase was, a group of people stood in his way, blocking his exit. Although he was effortlessly pushing them aside.

  I couldn’t believe he was doing this again.

  Maybe that's why I got drunk and blocked that night out. The guy clearly has a serious jealous streak, and anger issues, I thought as Jesse and I ran for the door.

  Once outside, we both turned and saw Chase with a face like thunder, catching up to us fast. But strangely, rather than being worried, Jesse just let out a deep chuckle.

  "Do you have a car?" I yelled out.

  "Yeah, it's over there," he said, pointing to a BMW i8 Roadster. It was a dark grey in color, with an electric blue line along the side and around the grill. I yanked on his hand and pulled him as I ran as fast as I could towards his car.

  While we ran, he turned to me. "You're fast Darlin', and I'm impressed, but if we don't run faster, he's going to catch us before we make it to the car."

  I tilted my head at him, then glanced behind us. Sure enough, Chase was picking up speed, and there was no way we would be able to outrun him, even if I spent a few seconds taking off my heels. I gulped in between gasps of breath.

  "Look, don't hate me, but if you want to get to the car and drive off before he catches us, this is our only option," he said in a calm, husky voice.

  I looked at him in confusion, I didn't understand how the guy wasn't even out of breath, and I was practically dying.